She stood, the smile cordial, although the way she looked at me was far from it. Dismissive at best. “You don't like me, I get it. It isn’t undeserved.” A slight smile played at her lips and made its way to her eyes. Once a gentle brown, they now had eclipsed to a charcoal, a sign that she was a vampire that fed well. As a human she had been dangerous; I could only imagine how lethal she was now. “Now if only I could find it in me to care. Like I said, I feel like I kind of owe you. But whether or not you like me just isn’t something I can care about. It is probably better if you don’t.”
Well, she got her wish. I didn’t like her, but I just couldn’t hate her, although I had every reason to. I understood we worked on a different code of ethics. She was a mercenary and expecting anything else from her was really naïve of anyone. Although Ethan had given her a pass on such behavior, which I am sure had a lot to do with his libido more than anything else, I just wouldn't. I understood it, but I didn’t accept or forgive it.
Handing Ethan a piece of paper, she said, “This is how much this information will cost you.”
He glanced at the paper and handed it back to her. “Try again. I asked for addresses and names, not for you to organize a meeting with them on a private island.”
“That's what the information costs. If you aren't willing to pay, that's your problem. You can let yourself out,” she said as she jerked her chin towards the door.
“You're being unreasonable,” he said.
Whatever feelings she was managing to suppress erupted. “You want reasonable from a person you chose to let die!”
“I didn't have a choice!”
“You had a choice. It just wasn't the choice you wanted. You can't always have things your way!”
Ethan was perceptive about many things, but his narcissism made him blind in this situation. They were now dealing with the product of their dysfunctional relationship. Often on opposite sides, for once they had been working on the same team and she was disappointed that he wouldn't do whatever it took to save her. But did she have the right to be? She wore her bitterness and anger hard on her face. And adding injury to insult were the speculations that she wasn't injured during battle against Ethos and his creatures, but by Michaela, the Seethe’s Mistress, as an act of retaliation against Demetrius. The pack didn't care enough to investigate, but Josh was certain of the rumor.
Their emotions often danced between primal lust, keen dislike, and distorted variations of both. Now there was just discourse that I doubt would be resolved because no one but Ethan really knew why he chose to allow her to die. Was it to permanently rid himself of the woman that he would never admit was a weakness? Or was it truly an act of compassion to rescue her from a world where she really didn't belong?
She shoved the paper into his chest. “You want the information, this is how much it will cost. This isn’t a rummage sale. We aren’t going to haggle.”
“No, it is more like extortion.”
Her gaze shifted to the door. “You are welcome to leave.”
Now they stood glaring at each other, their anger palpable as the complexity of their relationship came back to bite them, and I was afraid things would erupt in violence before we could get the information. They were victims of a horrible situation that they had created. Both of them too arrogant to acknowledge that their dysfunctional relationship couldn't have worked. Whether they would ever admit it, their commitment could never truly be to each other, their loyalties devoted to other people. His was to the pack, and his brother and hers to whoever was paying her. Their union in any form was an uncontrolled convoluted mess and even the Arrogant, Great and Powerful Ethan and Chris couldn’t make it work and overcome the self-inflicted obstacles placed upon it. How could they think a relationship, no matter how shallow, could survive when they both knew they would sacrifice the other to serve their own best interests? They had failed; their relationship was a failure. It was a victim of their own nescience and misjudgment. Neither one humble enough to see it for the devastation it was and admit failure. Instead, they lingered in this perpetual stalemate, accepting nolo contendere rather than defeat.
I am not sure what she expected, but she wasn't getting it from Ethan. With untainted indifference, Ethan crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze shifted to the wall behind her, his tone cool. “What? Do you need an apology? If you need one, I will give it to you.”
Chris might not have realized it, but she had changed the rules of their relationship while Ethan had stayed the course. He despised vampires and wasn’t going to create any more, even to save her.
But he would give her that apology, a half-hearted statement of insincere platitudes. He would give her a simple unemotional obligation, if that is what she needed. “Either you take the apology or—”
For all that is good in the world, please do not say “get over it.”
Ethan loved to tell people to do that and right now we just didn’t need his brand of derision.
“—deal with it,” he said.
Not much better, Ethan.
Chris swallowed and then started chewing on her bottom lip, and for a long time there was nothing but cold hard silence. I could feel the tension in her emotions: anger, disappointment, vengeance. But the cast of unresolved anger remained the most dominant. Did she want revenge? The idea seemed to linger as she continued to look at Ethan with contempt. Eventually she dismissed them and relaxed. Maybe a person less skilled at denying their emotions would have given in to them. I almost wanted them to punch each other just to get it out of their system.
“Why don’t you deal with this? This is my fee for the information. Either pay it or get the hell out. If you don’t make a decision in the next minute—yes, I mean sixty seconds,” she looked at her watch, “starting now, the price doubles.”
He pulled out his phone. “Is the account the same?”
She nodded.
After a few punches of the keys, he said, “Done.”
She went to her computer and printed out a page and handed it to me. Her finger ran down the list of six addresses. She checked one with her pen. "This one. If you tell her I sent you, she is a lot more amenable." Her finger slid lower down on the list and she placed a dash by other names. “They will help, but there will be a price and it may not necessarily be money. And these two—well, I can't help you on this, but I strongly advise you to leave my name out of it, or they will never talk to you and will likely try to kill you.”
We were out the door when Chris called to Ethan. “You should hope that Ann or Sean get better at their jobs, because I will not help you or your pack again, so please do not ask. We are done.”
We had lost her as a resource and I wanted to get as much information as I could. “What do you know about spirit shades?” I blurted before she could close the door in our face.
She stopped. “Is that what you are looking for, Bambi?”
I nodded. She took the paper from my hand and with her pen in hand she circled two names on the list. “Then you will only need to speak with them.”
I looked at the names: one was the Tre’ase that she had a friendly relationship with; the other was her foe.
For whatever reason, she was giving out information generously and I was going to obtain as much as I could. “What do you know about protected—”
I was silenced by her finger pressing against my lips. “No, Bambi. You are part of the Midwest Pack, so you have no more business here with me.”
I was just seconds from finding out what the tip of a vampire’s finger tasted like and her learning to live with that part of her finger missing when she removed the offending finger.
Addressing us both, she said, “Don’t come here again. Don’t challenge my request. I mean it. That includes you too, Bam—Skylar.” The cool voice drifted off behind the door.
Once in the car I said, “I guess that is one source we no longer have.”
“For now,” he said confidently as he pulled out of the driveway.
> “You can’t seriously believe she is going to change her mind?”
“Yes, but out of necessity. She was created by Demetrius. People will assume she has an intrinsic loyalty to him. No one will hire her again.”
I watched him for a few minutes. “And you don’t believe that blind loyalty exists?”
“Did you see how she responded to him? A new vampire would never do anything to displease its creator. As they age, it becomes more obligatory than compulsory. Did you sense any of that between her and Demetrius?”
“I don’t think she is capable of fealty, and displeasing people seems to be her thing,” I said.
He answered with a half-smile and that odd appreciation he always seemed to have for Chris’ unorthodox behavior.
“Hmm, so that is the way to your heart, a person that actively tries to displease you? Pardon me for considering that the behavior of an insane person,” I said as I looked at the list of names. Only one lived near, two lived nearly four hours away, and the other one was in Texas. The one in Texas was one of the two that would know about spirit shades.
His smirk fanned over his face as he shrugged. “She gets the job done. Always. Whether she makes enemies or friends in the process has never been a concern. I don’t know of any job given to her that she didn't complete."
“The number of maimed, murdered and betrayed that she leaves in her wake doesn’t matter?”
“It matters that she always completes the job,” he said in a low, tepid voice.
On the drive home we went over the list and decided to visit the Tre’ase closest first.
He asked, “When do you want to leave, tomorrow?”
I fidgeted in my chair. I didn’t know if he had paid for the information or if the pack had, but I didn’t want him to go. One was already considered a foe of Chris and for some reason Tre’ases didn’t respond favorably to him. His presence annoyed them.
“I don’t want to leave until tomorrow when Kelly is better.” I was trying to be optimistic, although we hadn’t heard from Abigail and Josh. But I couldn’t go four hours away without knowing that she was okay. Stifling the image of her sobbing on the floor earlier was getting more difficult. I didn’t want to go so far away without knowing her fate.
I convinced Ethan to take me home to get my car. I hated being chauffeured around. Well, that was the excuse I gave him. One of the Tre’ases lived just an hour away; and although they might not have information on spirit shades, they might know about protected objects, Maya, and why she was killed as a child. It was at least worth trying and I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere with them while Ethan was present. Once he pulled into my driveway, I said, “I want to go visit the Tre’ase with Josh instead of you.”
“Just because you and my brother can’t manage to stay away from each other longer than twenty-four hours, you will not put him in a dangerous situation because of it. I am going with you,” he said firmly.
“My relationship with Josh has nothing to do with it. Each time you encounter a Tre’ase, they respond poorly to you. One of them already isn’t going to be friendly, why agitate them or the situation any more by bringing you?”
“Fine, if I need to stay outside I will, but I will be close and Josh can come as well.”
I hopped out of the car. “Thank you, your majesty. Whatever would we have done without you granting our approval to leave the city?” I said in a saccharine tone.
I did not need to look back. I could feel his virulent glare on me as I went to the house.
I had decided to pay the “friendly” Tre’ase a visit, but I had no idea what Chris’ idea of friendly was. Could it be someone that only tried to kill her half of the times she visited? She was odd enough to think that was friendly behavior.
Pulling slowly into the spot where the GPS had led me and where the Tre’ase home should have been, I found myself on a gravel road with a roadblock marked “Private Property.” Willow trees, a thick coppice and high, thick grass made looking past the immediate surroundings difficult. I was going to have to go in blind.
Unaware of what I might encounter, I had a Ruger LCP holstered at my waist, concealed by a light jacket. But unless the person was standing three feet away, they were safe if I had to use it. No matter how many times Winter took me to the range, I couldn’t hit anything. The knife secured to my leg was large enough to do damage if needed. I really wanted to bring a sword or my trusty golf club, but how do you explain showing up to someone’s home with something like that? You just can’t explain that away.
As I started to get out of my car, an oversized SUV pulled up behind it. I didn’t have to look at my rearview mirror to know who it was. Ethan.
The grimace remained on his face as he walked towards the car, and didn’t ease even when I greeted him with a bright, wide smile. “Hi,” I said when he opened the door.
“Hi,” he said, doing a horrible impersonation of my voice. “You’re so predictable it’s not even a challenge anymore,” he said as I got out of the car. As I headed up the path, he sidled in closer, his steps matching my quick pace up the trail.
“Skylar,” he said in an icy soft voice. “I am only going to say this once so I need you to listen carefully. For whatever reason, Sebastian wants you alive. I couldn’t care less if the Tre’ase rips you to pieces the moment you walk through the door. But for now, our responsibility is to keep you alive. Your behavior is making it more difficult to care whether or not we succeed. Perhaps we may find it easier if you weren’t alive.” He stopped and took hold of my arm. “Do you understand me?”
I pulled away. “I don’t need a babysitter and I am sorry that you feel that I do. I need answers and I am going to do what it takes to get them. You’ve made ‘babysitting’ me your job; no one gave it to you. So either you learn to love it or quit. I hope you quit. Regarding the pack no longer caring to keep me safe or alive—big deal. If I don’t get the Aufero, I am as good as dead anyway; so you won’t have to make that decision,” I said as I started the hike up the long grit walkway. The path was narrow, and the large florets of the tree hung low, blocking the path, darkening the long obscure route. As we got closer to the small cottage that was heavily cloaked by the forest that surrounded it, I begrudgingly admitted to myself that I was glad that Ethan was with me.
I stopped just short of the stairs. It wasn’t quite a few hours from dusk, yet the surrounding near the house was stygian. I clung to the fact that Chris considered this Tre’ase a friend. Ethan placed his hand at the small of my back. “I’m ready when you are.”
I wasn’t ready yet. For a minute I stayed, checking how easily accessible my weapons were, then I inhaled a deep breath, and the smell of pine and oak prickled at my nose. I stepped forward and before I could knock, the deep mellifluous voice said, “Come in. I was wondering how long it would take for you to get to the door.”
He wasn’t what I expected at all. Gloria, the first Tre’ase I met, was a wide stout woman with salt-and-pepper hair. Her son Thaddeus was a horrid looking thing with horns, hooved feet and fur. This one was different. He had a broad and muscular build. Deep russet coloring was complemented by the short chestnut-colored hair that waved at the scalp. Intricate body art ran up his sinewy arms. His eyes didn’t match his appearance either; they were an odd lavender blush, something I had never seen before. He looked past us, so I wondered if he was blind.
But eventually the odd-colored eyes settled on Ethan, hard. Here we go again.
He stepped closer, his head tilted, and then he smiled. He started to touch Ethan, but stopped and continued to examine him with interest. Ethan remained motionless as the Tre’ase slowly circled him, getting closer and closer with each step. He eventually stopped. “Remarkable,” he said as he continued to study him.
“Logan?” I asked. I had to because he didn’t act like any Tre’ase that had encountered Ethan.
He shifted his attention to me for merely a second. “Yes, how may I help you?”
But Ethan reaped
the rest of his consideration. He reached out again slowly, his fingers tracing an invisible line around Ethan. “May I?” he asked Ethan.
“No.”
“Just for a moment. Please. I will be a better host if my curiosity is satisfied.”
Ethan looked in my direction and considered the request for a long time. Probably, contemplating, as I did, whether or not Logan would be helpful if denied. After several moments of thought, he nodded. Logan stepped so close to Ethan that if he hadn’t been a couple of inches taller, their lips would have met. Overly excited by the anticipation, he had several false starts before he placed the palm of his hand on Ethan’s cheek. The glamour he presented fell for just a second, enough for me to know it was gone, but not long enough for what I saw to register.
“Please have a seat,” he said as he walked into the living room and sat sideways in a tuxedo chair with his legs dangling over the side.
His strange comfort with us there felt eerie. How strong was he that two were-animals showing up at his home didn’t send up any alarms?
“Do you want something to drink?” he asked.
Ethan and I declined at the same time as we took a seat on the overstuffed matching sofa, an odd shade of red that contrasted with the geometrical design of his chair. I looked around the little cottage that didn’t maintain the image on the inside. It was a hodgepodge of eclectic modern and cottage-chic that was just as odd and unsettling as his personality.
“How may I help you?” Logan asked.
“You don’t want to know how we found you?” I asked. He lived in the middle of no-man’s-land, two strangers show up at his house, and the only thing he does is offer them a beverage. I knew there had to be a whole lot of crazy going on in his head.
He shrugged. “Very few people know I am here. The ones that do, I know and trust that they wouldn’t send harm my way. And if they did, I am confident I can protect myself,” he said casually.
“Chris sent us,” I said.
Midnight Falls (Sky Brooks Series Book 3) Page 14
